Canada’s hottest young bluegrass band, The Slocan Ramblers, embark on a Southeastern U.S. tour starting in MerleFest. Playing songs from their latest release, Coffee Creek, and their debut album, Shaking Down the Acorns, the band will play shows in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Tennessee.

Despite their Toronto address, says Elmore Magazine, “The Slocan Ramblers are turning out a piping hot brand of bluegrass that you just may think was cut fresh from a back porch in the Blue Ridge.” Members include Frank Evans (banjo, vocals), Adrian Gross (mandolin), Darryl Poulsen (guitar) and Alastair Whitehead (bass).

As they make their way, these supreme musicians will serve up for fans the energy and musicianship that earned them the 2015 Edmonton Folk Fest Emerging Artist Award and other accolades. A beacon of Canada’s roots music scene, the Ramblers’ music strikes “that perfect modern bluegrass balance of a deep respect for tradition and an itch for exploration,” notes Exclaim! Magazine.

The Huffington Post described the band’s previous release, Shaking Down the Acorns, as “excellent … and well worth repeated listening.” That pattern of excellence continues in Coffee Creek (2015), produced by Chris Coole (The Foggy Hogtown Boys), who praised the band for recording an album of “precision and virtuosity” while recognizing “the power of the fragile moment in music.”